It's On You

“Scrum failed”, “Scrum should die in a fire”, “We tried XP and it didn’t work”. I’m tired of it.

If you used Scrum on a product and brought it in on time with great market success, were you planning to have a party congratulating Scrum on what a great job it did? Were you planning to give Scrum a big raise and maybe a promotion?

I hope to hell not. I hope you were planning a big team party where you congratulate yourselves on what a great job you did. I hope you get the raises and promotions.

Well, guess what. If your product doesn’t come in on time, if it tanks in the market, if you marched until you were dead and then some, it’s not on Scrum. It’s not on “Agile”. It’s not on XP.

If those things help, do them. If they don’t help, don’t do them. Same with any approach, any tool, any method. You’re responsible for making things work.

It’s on you. If you want to feel good when you manage to succeed, it’s because success depends on you. And if the product tanks? Well, kiddo, it’s still on you.